Selzer Elementary\middle School, Dumont NJ

Original Research by School Decision on Selzer Elementary\middle School

Selzer Elementary/Middle School serves the Dumont community as a regular public school covering pre-K through eighth grade, a single-building setting that keeps students in one place from early childhood through the end of middle school. The school sits within a densely built, walkable Bergen County borough where residential streets, local businesses, and civic buildings are all within a short distance of one another. For families considering Dumont, the housing market is expensive and competitive, with home values above national and state medians and a modest but steady pace of new listings. The borough is nearly built out, so growth comes from household turnover and redevelopment rather than new subdivisions.

Academically, the school shows a clear divergence between English language arts and math as students move through the grades. In the early elementary years, both subjects post solid results. By third and fourth grade, ELA proficiency is in a healthy range, and math in those grades is similarly strong. Fifth grade is a standout for ELA, while math in fifth grade is somewhat lower but still above the midpoint of the school's own performance. The shift becomes pronounced in the middle school grades. Starting in sixth grade, math proficiency drops substantially and remains lower through seventh and eighth grade. ELA holds up better across those same years, staying in a consistent range. Science is tested in fifth and eighth grade; the fifth-grade result is moderate, while the eighth-grade result is lower, a pattern that may reflect the broader challenge of middle school science preparation.

Parents weighing this school should consider how their child responds to math instruction, especially around the transition to middle school. The data do not explain why math performance declines, but the pattern is consistent across three grade levels, so it is worth discussing with school staff. The school is not alone in facing this kind of middle-grade math slide — many schools see a dip — but the size of the drop here is notable and warrants a conversation.

The student body is diverse. Hispanic and White students each make up roughly two-fifths of enrollment, followed by Asian students, with smaller shares of Black students and students of two or more races. A low share of students qualify for free or reduced-price lunch, indicating that most families are above the income threshold for that program. The school did not report counts for students with IEPs or English learners, so families with children in those categories would want to ask directly about the school's special education and language support offerings.

The school's overall proficiency index falls below the midpoint among Bergen County's many school districts, a county known for having a wide range of high-performing schools. That comparison places Selzer in the middle to lower part of a competitive field. The school does not serve high school grades, so there is no graduation rate to examine. Similarly, no chronic absenteeism data were available, though that metric is often more relevant at the high school level.

Dumont itself is a stable, family-oriented community with a strong sense of place. Borough events like Dumont Day and the Winter Festival draw residents together, and the compact geography means that Selzer and the other district schools are within walking distance for many families. No major district changes — no recent referendums, curriculum overhauls, or budget shifts — were reported in public search results, so the district appears to have been operating without dramatic recent disruption. For a parent, the decision comes down to whether the school's early-grade strengths and middle-grade ELA performance outweigh the math concerns, and whether the broader community environment — a dense, expensive, walkable suburb with a modest-sized school — fits what they want for their child's day-to-day experience.

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Academic performance

How students perform on state tests, by grade, set against the district.

Math

Grade 374%

School 74% · District 62% · ▲ 12 pts above district

▲ 24 pts above state median · ▲ 6 pts above county median

Grade 466%

School 66% · District 64% · ▲ 2 pts above district

▲ 20 pts above state median · ▲ 1 pts above county median

Grade 563%

School 63% · District 68% · ▼ 4 pts below district

▲ 20 pts above state median · even with county median

Grade 639%

School 39% · District 51% · ▼ 12 pts below district

▲ 5 pts above state median · ▼ 20 pts below county median

Grade 738%

School 38% · District 47% · ▼ 9 pts below district

▲ 3 pts above state median · ▼ 19 pts below county median

Grade 842%

School 42% · District 29% · ▲ 13 pts above district

▲ 25 pts above state median · ▲ 6 pts above county median

English language arts

Grade 367%

School 67% · District 51% · ▲ 16 pts above district

▲ 21 pts above state median · ▲ 3 pts above county median

Grade 466%

School 66% · District 63% · ▲ 4 pts above district

▲ 11 pts above state median · ▼ 7 pts below county median

Grade 576%

School 76% · District 76%

▲ 23 pts above state median · ▲ 4 pts above county median

Grade 670%

School 70% · District 68% · ▲ 2 pts above district

▲ 16 pts above state median · ▼ 7 pts below county median

Grade 764%

School 64% · District 65% · ▼ 1 pts below district

▲ 7 pts above state median · ▼ 14 pts below county median

Grade 867%

School 67% · District 69% · ▼ 2 pts below district

▲ 9 pts above state median · ▼ 8 pts below county median

Science

Grade 542%

School 42% · District 51% · ▼ 9 pts below district

▲ 15 pts above state median · even with county median

Grade 827%

School 27% · District 31% · ▼ 4 pts below district

▲ 14 pts above state median · even with county median

This schoolDumont Public School District, same grade

Graduation rate (ACGR) reflects the federally published Adjusted Cohort Graduation Rate for the most recent year available. We refresh this data annually at the close of each academic year in June. The federal source publishes a banded rate (for example, "90-94%") instead of an exact number for cohorts small enough to risk identifying individual students. The state distribution chart, where shown, plots every school in the state with a published rate or band; schools whose rate is federally suppressed are excluded. Where the federal source publishes a band rather than an exact rate, the school is placed within its band using a stable, ID-derived offset, so its position is consistent across visits.

Proficiency by household income

English language arts

Grade 6Lower-income70%Higher-income70%0 pp gap

Grade 7Lower-income69%Higher-income64%6 pp gap

Mathematics

Grade 6Lower-income30%Higher-income41%11 pp gap

Grade 7Lower-income39%Higher-income38%1 pp gap